Bangladesh Cricket Players

Mohammad Ashraful

Mohammad Ashraful turned a terrible mismatch into a piece of history by becoming the youngest man,
or boy, ever to make a Test century for Bangladesh against Sri Lanka. Bangladesh still crashed to heavy defeat,
but Ashraful brought hope and consolation with a sparkling hundred, repeatedly dancing down the pitch to hit the Sri Lankan spinners, including Murali, back over their heads. It was the day before his 17th birthday according to some sources, and 63 days after it according to others; either way, he broke the longstanding record for the youngest centurion set by Mushtaq Mohammad when he made 101 for Pakistan against India in 1960-61 (17 years, 82 days). Inevitably, such a heady early achievement proved hard to live up to, and after a prolonged run of poor form, he was dropped for England's first visit in October 2003. He returned to the side a better player, but no less flamboyant in his strokemaking, as he demonstrated with a glorious unbeaten 158 in defeat against India at Chittagong. Not yet 21 when Bangladesh embarked on their maiden tour of England, Ashraful was definitely one for the future, and confirmed this on an unforgettable day in Cardiff, when his brilliantly paced century set Bangladesh up for an astonishing five-wicket victory over Australia in the early stages of the NatWest Series.